The subject matter disclosed herein relates to additive manufacturing, and more particularly, to support structures used to support printed parts during post-printing thermal processing.
Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, generally involves printing an article one layer at a time using specialized systems. In particular, a layer of a material (e.g., a metal and/or ceramic powder bed) is generally deposited on a working surface and bonded with another layer of the same or a different material. Additive manufacturing may be used to manufacture articles (e.g., fuel nozzles, fuel injectors, turbine blades, etc.) from computer aided design (CAD) models using techniques such as, but not limited to, metal laser melting, laser sintering, and binder jetting. These additive manufacturing techniques melt, sinter, and/or chemically bind layers of material to generate the desired article. Additive manufacturing facilitates manufacturing of complex articles and enables enhanced flexibility for customization of articles compared to other manufacturing techniques, such as molding (e.g., cast molding, injection molding). Additionally, additive manufacturing can reduce the overall manufacturing costs associated with generating these complex articles compared to molding techniques generally used.